Morocco’s Wealth Gap: Poor Country or Unequal Economy?

“Morocco is a poor country.” This phrase, uttered by former Moroccan left-wing parliamentarian Omar Balafrej, has been circulating widely on TikTok and X since the end of January 2026. Although the excerpt comes from a conference held in May 2018, its current virality—more than 200,000 views on some posts—raises questions about the Kingdom’s economic reality eight years later.

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An analysis of data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts the statement into perspective while confirming the structural trends mentioned by the former elected official, reports 20minutes. In 2025, Morocco’s GDP per capita in purchasing power parity stands at 11,437 dollars. It remains below Tunisia’s (14,982 dollars) and Algeria’s (18,509 dollars). The ratio has remained stable since 2018: Moroccan per-capita income is still approximately 1.6 times lower than that of its eastern neighbor.

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The High Commission for Planning (HCP) reported last September that the Gini index, a measure of inequality, had risen from 38.5% in 2019 to 40.5% in 2022, bringing the country back to its level at the beginning of the century. At the same time, absolute poverty more than doubled over the same period, rising from 1.7% to 3.9% of the population. This widening social gap coincides with an increase in great wealth: according to Henley & Partners, the number of millionaires in Morocco has jumped by 40% since 2015, reaching 7,500 individuals in 2025.